‘Sons Of Anarchy’ season premiere and predictions

Oh, baby. That’s a really bad way to die. So one of the best shows on TV started its fifth season last night, and if you weren’t watching it you’d better have been hip-deep in an orgy or something. Sons Of Anatrchy continually delivers amazing writing, great acting and some of the twistiest plots ever. Let’s dive into the fifth season premiere and see what we can see.

We’re a few weeks in the future from the end of last season. Jax is solidly in charge of SAMCRO, Gemma has moved on from Clay to a new beau (played by Jimmy Smits) and Bobby is about to wrap up his prison bid (with a little help from the Gallindo cartel, which is still in the picture). Clay, meanwhile, is still suffering from Opie shooting him, hooked up to an oxygen tank a shadow of his former self.

One of the biggest shockers of the episode was Clay’s “confession” to killing Piney. That’s in quotes because the deposed SAMCRO leader spun a bullcrap story about Piney pulling a gun on him and it being self-defense. He’s obviously planning some kind of long game to get attention off himself, but it’s a mystery as to where it’s going.

The real trouble, though, is the resurgent One-Niners. Under the leadership of new boss Damon Pope, things get real fast. Last season, Tig pulled a revenge killing based on Clay’s lie that the One-Niners were the ones who shot him, killing Pope’s daughter. We see his revenge this episode, as he snatches Tig’s daughter and burns her alive in a cargo container in front of him. But who is Tig going to blame – Pope for doing the deed or Clay for making him shoot an innocent person and kicking off this spiral of revenge?

Of course, predicting the future on a show like this is a fool’s errand, but here’s some stuff I’d lay money on seeing.

The feud with the One-Niners is going to rack up more bodies on both sides, but I see it in some ways being a red herring, cleared up towards the middle of the season. They’ve always been portrayed as more of an annoyance than a real threat, and even with Damon Pope bringing some leadership to the group, SAMCRO has bigger things to worry about. I see this as being the wedge that finally splits the Sons, though.

Clay is obviously planning something big. He can’t stand to see Jax in power, and his Irish connections mean that he will always have a place at the table. But what can this broken man do to reclaim the throne? This is going to be the big story of the season, in my opinion: Clay climbing up from the ashes or dragging everybody else down with him.

I have to say I have no idea where the plotline with Nero Padilla, Gemma’s new sex buddy, is going. He’s an interesting character with an interesting backstory, but I don’t know how he’s going to advance the narrative. Right now he just seems conveniently “there.” Any thoughts?